CAT/OP/MLI/1 Right to inform a third party of one’s detention 19. The right to inform a third person of one’s arrest is a fundamental safeguard against torture and ill-treatment.2 However, the Subcommittee was informed by the detainees that it met that they were generally not able to contact their family or a close friend about their arrest, sometimes due to a lack of available facilities in the police and gendarmerie stations, but in certain cases because of the arbitrary refusal of the authorities to grant their request. 20. The Subcommittee recommends that the authorities take the necessary measures, including the provision of equipment and funding, to ensure that all persons detained are able to inform their relatives or friends of their detention, and that the information is duly recorded in the custody register (person contacted, date and time). Right of access to a lawyer and the legal assistance system 21. The right of persons who have been arrested to have access to a lawyer of their choice, enshrined in article 9 of the Constitution of Mali, is not implemented in practice. Almost none of the persons held in police custody or pretrial detention whom the delegation met had seen a lawyer at any point in the legal process, because they were unable to pay the fees. Thereby, the access to free legal assistance provided by the law is not implemented on the ground. It appears from the accounts gathered by the Subcommittee that, in the best case scenario, officially assigned counsel, if appointed, only become involved when a criminal case reaches the Assize Court, and not during the investigation stage. This situation is no doubt linked to the general shortage of lawyers throughout the country and exacerbated by their concentration in the district of Bamako, which leaves entire regions without counsel. The disproportionate ratio of members of the judiciary to lawyers (two members of the judiciary for every lawyer) in the country is evidence of the lack of lawyers in most regions. 22. The Subcommittee recommends that the authorities guarantee access to a lawyer to all persons from the moment they are taken into custody and throughout legal proceedings,3 particularly by establishing an effective mechanism to provide free legal assistance. The authorities should consider measures to increase the number of lawyers trained in the country each year and to encourage them to establish themselves in the different regions of the country, and allocate an adequate budget for the free legal assistance system. Right to medical examination 23. Interviews with detainees and law enforcement personnel, examination of the custody registers and the systematic absence of medical registers in police and gendarmerie stations made it clear that the right of access to a doctor, although enshrined in article 76 of the new Code of Criminal Procedure, is not implemented in practice. No medical examination is performed when persons are taken into custody or placed in detention, although medical examinations and adequate documentation of the injuries presented by persons deprived of their liberty are indispensible safeguards to prevent torture and illtreatment, and also contribute to combating the impunity of perpetrators.4 2 3 4 6 Committee against Torture, general comment No. 2, CAT/C/GC/2, para. 13; Body of Principles, Principle 16. Committee against Torture, op. cit. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, rule 24 (Standard Minimum Rules); Body of Principles, Principle 24. GE.14-41827